Mahama Elected in Ghana, Opposition Challenges Results

Incumbent President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana has been declared the winner of the closely fought Ghanaian presidential election. The Ghanaian electoral management body (EMB) announced that Mahama had garnered 50.7% of the vote vs. Akufo-Addo who got 47.74%. The opposition has however refused to concede defeat, claiming that the president’s party colluded with the EMB to fix the results.

The BBC reports that police had to disperse crowds who had gathered near the EMB’s offices. Tanks remain on guard around the area. Most observers considered the elections to have been conducted in a free and fair manner.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye over an influence-peddling scandal, setting the stage for her to become the country's first elected leader to be expelled from office in disgrace.

ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army pressed an offensive in Aleppo on Friday with ground fighting and air strikes in an operation to retake all of the city's besieged rebel-held east that would bring victory in the civil war closer for President Bashar al-Assad.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will extend by six months its main economic sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine after the bloc's leaders meet in Brussels on Dec. 15, diplomatic sources and officials said on Friday.